The SFCP Library was established to serve the members and candidates of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, and to educate other mental health professionals and the public at large on the discipline of psychoanalysis. The library collection holds books, journals and other materials for the study of psychoanalysis in theoretical, applied and clinical applications. Library services include, but are not limited to, acquisition of books.

Community Membership is a new category of membership at SFCP established in 2008 that was created to enrich and broaden the Center by inviting psychoanalytic psychotherapists in the Bay Area to join SFCP. We welcome mental health clinicians and students of all disciplines and levels of experience into our Community Membership.

Newsletter

President’s Message

by Michael Donner, PhD

Announcement of Committee on Group Process

It is my pleasure to announce the formation of the Committee on Group Process and the appointment of Ray Poggi as Chair. In 2012, President Robin Deutsch convened a task force to study the vicissitudes of group process at SFCP and to make recommendations about the creation of a committee on group process. The Task Force completed its report to Dr. Deutsch and the Management Team in June 2013, and formed a study group to develop the skills to become useful to the SFCP community. At the December, 2014 meeting of the SFCP Board of Trustees, the Study Group was formally designated as a Committee on Group Process. Like the Ethics and Impairment Committee, this committee is established outside of the Division structure and the Chair will report directly to the President.

PSYCHOANALYTIC COUPLE PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
FOR INTENSIVE STUDY PROGRAM IN PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY OF COUPLES 2015-2016

by Julie Friend, LCSW and Leora Benioff, PhD

PCPG’s program offers an immersion in the foundations of Tavistock and other psychoanalytic thinking about and working with couples. Tavistock couple theory, rooted in Klein, Winnicott, Bion, Meltzer and others, explores a wide range of issues, including the implications of Oedipal development regarding couple functioning, unconscious object choice and shared unconscious anxieties, the role of projection in structuring couple relationships, sexuality, technical application of theory, and transference and countertransference in work with couples. The coming year will feature a rich array of theoretical classes, case conferences, and film events.

The “ Psychoanalytic Aspect of Assisted Reproductive Technology” brings together colleagues’ as well as my own collective clinical experience working with patients touched by the use of this method.

The book covers a variety of topics related to the use of ART, and the role of unconscious transaction in the analytic process. As analysts, we appreciate the value of in-depth understanding of a single case presentation.

RECOGNITIONS

Mali Mann, MD, presented a paper on “ Privacy, secrecy and confidentiality” as part of the ethics course at Stanford University, School of Medicine, Department of psychiatry and behavioral Science on November 19, 2014.

ADVERTISEMENTS

SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE SUBLET
Sacramento St. between Spruce and Locust Sts. Spacious, nicely furnished office in well-maintained building in Laurel Heights. Kitchen and free wi-fi. Suitable for child and adult psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Available weekday evenings after 6:30 pm, all day Fridays and weekends. Call Bert Faerstein at (415) 673-1290 or Diane Donnelly at (415) 563-3920.

MARIN OFFICE SUBLET
Well-maintained building on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Kentfield across from College of Marin. Separate exit, kitchenette, free parking lot surrounding building. Suitable for child and adult psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Available Wednesday until 2:30 pm, weekday eves after 7:00pm, all day Fridays and weekends.

Library News

by Eric Rosen, MLIS, Librarian

Come stop by the exhibit on Anna Maenchen and Emmy Sylvester. It was completed in December and is located in the glass cases at the front of the auditorium. Through rare photographs and documents peruse some moments in the lives of these two women, influential in psychoanalytic circles in Europe and Northern California during the mid-20th century.

New Year’s resolution: Bring those overdue books back. Now is the time to bring back those library books that have just been sitting in a corner of your desk-please contact Eric Rosen or Greg Borman if you have any questions about returns.

Opera on the Couch

by Steven Goldberg and Milton Schaefer, Co-chairs, Opera on the Couch

The 2014-15 season of Opera on the Couch, a collaboration between SFCP and the San Francisco Opera, continued on December 7, with Marc Zussman,MD, and Jeanne Harasemovich, LCSW, presenting their prepared discussions of Puccini’s La Boheme. The talks were given immediately following the Sunday matinee performance at nearby Books, Inc. A standing room only group of participants then engaged in a spirited dialogue with the presenters. La Boheme, one of the most frequently performed operas in the repertory, is characterized by the exceptional beauty of its melodic themes and the psychological depth of its characters and dramatic situations. Marc and Jeanne have prepared brief summaries of their comments for this Newsletter article, as follows:

REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A TRAINING ANALYST

The notes below highlight the basic current requirements for appointment of SFCP Training Analysts, including an important change in the immersion requirement. (For more complete information, please see our online SFCP Policy and Procedures Manual or contact the current Chair of the TA Appointment and Development Committee: Wendy Stern, (415) 931-0157.)

IMMERSION: Nationally, APsaA has changed the immersion requirements for becoming a TA. From the “Standards for Education and Training” document on the APsaA website:

A Day With Virginia Ungar

by Catherine Mallouh, MD, Chair, Day With committee

A Day With Virginia Ungar was held at SFCP on November 15, 2014 as part of the Visiting Professor week. The introduction to her work given on the Day by the moderator, Catherine Mallouh, M.D., follows here, and a description of the proceedings of
the day.

Introductory remarks for “A Day with Virginia Ungar”

Good morning. I’m Beth Steinberg, Chair of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Education Division here at the SFCP, and I want to welcome you all to today’s very special event, featuring Dr. Virginia Ungar, our 2014 Visiting Professor.

Before turning the podium over to Catherine Mallouh, who will introduce our featured guest, I’d like to tell you about some major developments here at the Center. First I need to provide a bit of background, so I’ll ask you to bear with me.

About SFCP

The San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis was organized in 2007, combining the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute & Society, founded in 1941, with the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis, founded in 1991. The SFCP is a not for profit organization with more than 160 practicing analysts and more than 45 candidates (psychoanalysts in training).

The Center provides an extensive training program in psychoanalysis. The Center also sponsors a large, vibrant Extension Division which offers classes and seminars to mental health professionals as well as to the general public. In addition, it maintains Low / Moderate Fee Referral Services for adults, children and adolescents as well as providing other mental health services and programs for the general community.